Meanings
present singular third person backs the wrong horse · participle present backing the wrong horse · participle past backed the wrong horse · past backed the wrong horse
- idiomaticTo support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful.
This might mean that I waste vast amounts of time searching for a species only to find that it no longer counted when the new regime is in place. All that effort spent backing the wrong horse.
2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 32Synonyms: pick the wrong horse, choose the wrong horse · Antonyms: back the right horse
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful.
Translations
Czech vsadit na špatného koně
- vsadit na špatného koněto support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
Finnish veikata väärää hevosta
- veikata väärää hevostato support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
French miser sur le mauvais cheval
- miser sur le mauvais chevalto support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
Hungarian rossz lóra tesz
- rossz lóra teszto support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
Polish stawiać na złego konia, postawić na złego konia
- stawiać na złego koniato support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
- postawić na złego koniato support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
Portuguese apostar no cavalo errado
- apostar no cavalo erradoto support something or someone that later turns out to be unsuccessful
Cite this entry
back the wrong horse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20the%20wrong%20horse
“back the wrong horse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20the%20wrong%20horse. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “back the wrong horse,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20the%20wrong%20horse.
Source: back the wrong horse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.